Sunday, December 27, 2009

See what happens when you have very little time, a naked gingerbread house and a bowl of popcorn?

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Annaand Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

I went with the recipe provided by Y, but I only did half of it.

Y's Recipe: Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga) from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas

1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]

1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]

2 tablespoons cinnamon

4 teaspoons ground ginger

3 teaspoons ground cloves

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ cup boiling water

5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight. Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, gabled walls, chimney and door out of cardboard. Roll the dough out on a large, ungreased baking sheet and place the patterns on the dough. Mark off the various pieces with a knife, but leave the pieces in place. Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. After baking, again place the pattern on top of the gingerbread and trim the shapes, cutting the edges with a straight-edged knife. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

I knew I was not going to be able to do a very detailed decorated house, because of the busy holiday baking marathons I had to run... I knew I had to do something very simple... And that’s how this idea popped into my head: A popcorn house!

To make my popcorn house I’ve followed the recipe's instructions, did a simple template and baked the house pieces. Then I’ve popped my corn, did some caramel and used it to glue my popcorn to the walls of the house. I’ve also used the caramel to glue the house together. I’ve then completed the blank spaces where the walls where glued with some more popcorn strategically positioned. And that was it! Fast and fun, and if I may say myself, quite cute!

I think I'm gonna eat it while I watch a movie... And by the way, Happy Holidays everyone!

Absolutely hilarious and cute! If you plan to make a house again this year, you should consider entering my Global Gingerbread contest - it's basically a fun way to promote world peace and understanding of other cultures. The web site is Global Table Adventure and there is a link to the contest in the sidebar.